NASCAR Announces Monster Energy As New Sponsor

Monster Energy partners with NASCAR

NASCAR has announced that Monster Energy will replace Sprint as the new title sponsor for their premiere series starting in a multi-year agreement beginning with the 2017 season.

NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France was on hand for the announcement today in Las Vegas where they are holding their annual awards banquet. France was joined by NASCAR Executive Vice President & Chief Global Sales and Marketing Officer Steve Phelps as well as Monster Energy Chief Marketing Officer Mark Hall.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and there was no official announcement in the new name for the series.

In addition to taking over the title sponsorship, Monster Energy will also become the title sponsor for the annual All Star Race as well as become the official energy drink of NASCAR.

Monster Energy will become just the third title sponsor in the history of the series after Sprint announced in 2014 that they would not be continuing as the series sponsor.

The Monster Energy brand has been around since 2002 and is jointly owned by Coca-Cola, who acquired a 16.7% stake in the brand in 2015.

Monster Energy is already heavily involved in sports marketing and is no stranger to motorsports, having sponsored motocross, BMX, Rallycross and even snowmobile racing. They began sponsoring a Formula 1 team in 2010 and in 2015 began sponsoring Kurt Busch’s no. 41 Cup car.

Hall says the opportunity to be involved in sponsorship with NASCAR was too good to pass up.

Mark Hall, Chief Marketing Officer for Monster Energy

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"We view this as a rare opportunity that doesn't come along every day," said Hall. "If you would have asked me five years ago if I've ever contemplated something like this, the answer would be never in a million years, but it's a rare and unique opportunity to be associated with a premier professional sport, to be closely partnered with that sport, and to work together to build both of our brands, and we're going to work very hard to do that."

France said that partnering with a brand like Monster is a perfect fit for NASCAR.

"It's one of the few sales calls that I actually personally made, because it is important to align ourselves with a global brand," said France. "They're an edgy brand, they're a fun brand, and they get after a millennial audience in a different way. And motorsports is in their DNA. They understand NASCAR. They understand how to reach across and excite our core audience and help us deliver on a new audience, and that was very exciting for us. "

Monster Energy will be the third new title sponsor for the premiere series since 1971, when R.J. Reynolds came on board to sponsor the newly-christened "Winston Cup Series" – a partnership that lasted more than 30 years.

In 2003, telecommunications company Nextel took over as title sponsor of the Nextel Cup Series, which continued until Nextel merged with Sprint in 2006, changing the name to the Sprint Cup Series.

(L-R) NASCAR's Steve Phelps, Brian France and Monster Energy's Mark Hall and Mitch Covington celebrate by popping a few cans of Monster Energy

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France said that the new name, logo and branding for the new partnership will be announced at a later date, however it is rumored that due to the fact that Monster Energy is a beverage company, the new series name will not include the word "Cup" in its branding.

France also reiterated that the agreement is more than just a sponsorship, but also a multi-faceted marketing agreement that will include some unique elements.

"We're very confident that this is the right partner for us, and we're looking forward to having some fun with it," said France. "By the way, we're in the fun business. We're racing cars. We're crowning champions…what better brand to have associated with us than the people who understand that? So we couldn't be more excited."

Monster Energy is currently one of several energy drinks in a very competitive market, which also includes NOS and Red Bull – two brands that are also heavily involved in motorsports.

When asked if he hoped their new agreement with NASCAR will help them knock Red Bull out of the market, Hall said "We like to win and we like to beat our competition. Do I think this will help? Yes, I think it will."